[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 228 (Monday, December 1, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 55044-55045]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-21695]
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Copyright Royalty Board
37 CFR Part 385
[Docket No. 25-CRB-0012-PR COLA (2026)]
Cost of Living Adjustment to Royalty Rates and Terms for Making
and Distributing Phonorecords
AGENCY: Copyright Royalty Board, Library of Congress.
ACTION: Final rule; cost of living adjustment.
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SUMMARY: The Copyright Royalty Judges announce a cost of living
adjustment (COLA) in the royalty rates for the statutory license for
making and distributing phonorecords of nondramatic musical works
regarding physical phonorecords and Permanent Downloads.
DATES:
Effective date: December 1, 2025.
Applicability date: These rates and terms are applicable during the
period from January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2026.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anita Brown, CRB Program Specialist,
(202) 707-7658, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 115 of the Copyright Act, title 17
of the United States Code, creates a statutory license for making and
distributing phonorecords of nondramatic musical works. On December 16,
2022, the Copyright Royalty Judges (Judges) adopted final regulations
governing the rates and terms of copyright royalty payments under that
license for the license period 2024-2027 for making and distributing
phonorecords of nondramatic musical works. See 87 FR 76942.
Pursuant to those regulations, at least 25 days before January 1 of
each year, the Judges shall publish in the Federal Register notice of a
cost of living adjustment (COLA) applicable to the royalty fees for
making and distributing physical phonorecords and Permanent Downloads.
See 37 CFR 385.11.
The adjustment in the royalty fee shall be based on a calculation
of the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers (CPI-U) published in November 2022 (298.012) \1\ (``base
rate'') according to the following formulas: for the per-work rate, (1
+ (Cy-298.012 \2\)/298.012) x 12[cent], rounded to the nearest tenth of
a cent; for the per-minute rate, (1 + (Cy-298.012)/298.012) x
2.31[cent], rounded to the nearest hundredth of a cent; where Cy is the
CPI-U published by the Secretary of Labor before December 1 of the
preceding year. 37 CFR 385.11(a)(2). The CPI-U published by the
Secretary of Labor from the most recent index published before December
1, 2025, is 324.800.\3\ Applying the formulas in 37 CFR 385.11(a)(2)
results in an increase in the rates for 2026.
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\1\ The CPI-U published in November 2022 is available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/cpi_11102022.htm at Table 1.
\2\ Base rate.
\3\ The CPI-U announced on October 24, 2025, by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics in its Consumer Price Index News Release--Consumer
Price Index, is available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cpi.pdf at Table 1 (last viewed on Nov. 25, 2015). The Copyright
Royalty Judges note that the October 24, 2025, publication is the
most recent CPI-U published by the Secretary of Labor before
December 1 of the preceding year of this COLA adjustment (i.e.,
2026). The Bureau of Labor statistics has explained ``BLS could not
collect October 2025 reference period survey data due to a lapse in
appropriations.'' See https://www.bls.gov/bls/2025-lapse-revised-release-dates.htm (last viewed on Nov. 25, 2025).
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The adjusted rates for 2026 are 13.1 cents for the per-work rate
and 2.52 cents for the per-minute rate.
List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 385
Copyright, Phonorecords, Recordings.
[[Page 55045]]
Final Regulations
In consideration of the foregoing, the Judges amend part 385 of
title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:
PART 385--RATES AND TERMS FOR USE OF NONDRAMATIC MUSICAL WORKS IN
THE MAKING AND DISTRIBUTING OF PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL PHONORECORDS
0
1. The authority citation for part 385 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 17 U.S.C. 115, 801(b)(1), 804(b)(4).
0
2. Section 385.11 is amended by revising paragraph (a)(1) to read as
follows:
Sec. 385.11 Royalty rates.
(a) * * *
(1) 2026 rate. For the year 2026 for every physical phonorecord and
Permanent Download the Licensee makes and distributes or authorizes to
be made and distributed, the royalty rate payable for each work
embodied in the phonorecord or Permanent Download shall be either 13.1
cents or 2.52 cents per minute of playing time or fraction thereof,
whichever amount is larger.
* * * * *
Dated: November 26, 2025.
Christina L. Shifton,
Interim Chief Copyright Royalty Judge.
[FR Doc. 2025-21695 Filed 11-28-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-72-P